As a family-run company, we are committed to social, innovative and sustainable business practices and this for more than 50 years.
Sustainability creates appreciation towards our employees, our products and our customers. This guiding principle and the interaction of different aspects is what characterizes our company and a Sommer Saddle.
This is the only way to create a product that lives up to the claim: "The best that can be made from leather".
Product responsibility
Made in the south-west and therefore from Germany. Sommer Saddles are produced exclusively in Pirmasens and that is important to us, because only in this way can we supply our customers with a product that meets our standards.
The production in Germany has many advantages for us and thus also for our customers.
Transport distances are low because we source many materials from the region. The production costs are at a good level, as the main cost factor of a Sommer Saddle is not the human but the high quality of the materials we use. Therefore, a Sommer Saddle is a piece of craftsmanship, produced in Germany to create " The best that can be made from leather ".
"Made in Germany" means product responsibility in every way.
Regional responsibility
On the edge of the Pfälzer Wald (Palatinate Forest), the district of Südwestpfalz is located in one of the most beautiful forest regions in Germany. Once the shoe capital of Germany and the world, today the Südwestpfalz is once again an upcoming region. Cohesion and the willingness to go new ways have always characterized the Pfalz (Platinate) and its people. We see ourselves as a deeply rooted part of this community with a regional responsibility.
We work closely with regional companies including leather dealers, constructors, social institutions, and IT companies. The know-how around the leather craft is high in the region, competences are bundled for the benefit of all.
In addition, we also see it as our duty to support regional equestrian sports. We sponsor many regional riders and support equestrian clubs at events as well as their promotion of young people by providing training saddles.
For the region.
Employees
What began in 1965 in a small factory is now a living company history. Theo Sommer was one of the pioneers of modern saddle manufacturing. His son Alexander Rene Sommer continues this tradition, and the next generation is ready to go.
Familiar, Together and Fair - today the company has over 50 employees and many of them have been working for the company for over 10 years. A fair and social relationship to work is important to us. We offer our employees a stable, secure job with responsibility and opportunities to participate in the company. Motivated employees who enjoy working for their company are important to us. Among other things, we offer our employees the opportunity to visit a regional fitness studio free of charge.
Togetherness is particularly important for the success of the company. Joint activities such as Christmas celebrations, summer party’s and visits to equestrian events are supported.
The youth is the future and so we have been training young, well-trained equestrian saddlers for many decades. Over the years, our company has produced many regional and national champions in the saddlery trade. We currently have Germany's best apprentice saddler (2019) and the best regional apprentice saddler (2020), who is now also responsible for the further training of our apprentices.
A safe job is important to us for our well-trained journeymen, we usually take on our apprentices. But many former employees also remain loyal to our company later and sell our products worldwide as independent equestrian saddlers.
In addition to our trained saddlers, we also employ many former employees from the shoe industry. In this way, we also offer "older" people from the region a perspective on the job market, who provide us with valuable work with their many years of know-how from the leather-processing industry.
Fairness and togetherness create appreciation towards our employees, retailers and customers.
Familiar, together and fair.
Resources
Natural resources are the basis for our life on earth. Only the careful use of resources can preserve an environment worth living in and they are the foundation for clean and sustainable business success.
We are working hard to save and conserve resources in all areas of the company. Leather material residues, as an example, are collected and processed by a regional company, so that even the smallest pieces of leather can be put to good use.
Our leathers are carefully selected high-quality goods from Germany and Italy, some of them produced especially for us. The leathers are produced in a gentle and environmentally friendly process (vegetable) and are not harmful to horses, humans or the environment.
A Sommer Saddle will be with you for many years. It can be adapted to the anatomical requirements of horse and rider at any time and in many ways, directly on site and in the shortest possible time. This makes it a loyal companion for a lifetime, which is what our products are designed for.
We want our customers to enjoy them for as long as possible. However, a saddle is a piece of equipment that is exposed to high stress and wear in daily use. Wear and damage are not the end of a high-quality Sommer saddle. For smaller and larger repairs and conversions, we offer our own in-house repair and conversion service. In this way, we extend the life cycle of a Sommer product over many years. Repairing what you love is worthwhile, for a lifetime.
Energy
The craft of saddlery is one of the oldest in human history. Even today, most production processes are done by hand, the use of machines is limited. But its professional production cannot do without the use of machines - machines require a lot of energy. In order to cover our energy needs and produce our own energy, we have been operating a large photovoltaic system on the roofs of our company buildings since 2013. Today, we produce about 45,000 kWh per year ourselves and can therefore cover a large part of our electricity needs.
Master craftsmanship and self-generated electricity - the mix makes it!
